Cultural Affairs Bureau Celebrates Pilots' Day with Aircraft Art Exhibition

To celebrate World Pilots' Day on April 26, the city government's Cultural Affairs Bureau joined hands with the FLOMO Educational Foundation to open the "Soaring Through the Clouds | Virginia's Flights of Imagination" exhibition at Shuijiaoshe Cultural Park on April 25. The show presents the aircraft-themed series by Canadian artist Virginia from the Foundation's collection, echoing the history of Shuijiaoshe as an air force military dependents' village and paying tribute to the brave pilots who once soared through the skies.

Presiding over the opening, Deputy Mayor Yeh Tse-shan noted that Shuijiaoshe Cultural Park was originally an air force dependents' village and remains a key site for preserving Tainan's military village cultural heritage. This collaboration between the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the FLOMO Educational Foundation, combined with school outreach education, brings together government, private enterprise, and schools to fully demonstrate the power of cross-sector connection and to help more people understand Tainan's historical context.

Shen Ching-jung, Vice Chairperson of the FLOMO Educational Foundation, said that since its founding in 2004, the Foundation has devoted itself to English-language and arts education and has collaborated with the Cultural Affairs Bureau on numerous arts and cultural activities, planting the seeds of art in children's hearts. As Shuijiaoshe is hailed as the "Hometown of the Thunder Tigers," FLOMO specially used its own eraser products to craft an aircraft design of the Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team, hoping to introduce more people to Tainan's air force history and culture.

Bureau Director Huang Ya-ling remarked that the works of the Canadian artist reveal how aircraft are portrayed artistically across different cultures. In partnership with nearby Zhikai Elementary School and Zeren Kindergarten, the "Paint My Flying Dream" educational outreach activity encourages children to use their creativity to depict their own visions of flight, in the hope that the varied perspectives and artistic styles will spark public interest in aircraft, aviation, and related themes.

The "Soaring Through the Clouds | Virginia's Flights of Imagination" special exhibition runs through June 28 at the Special Art Exhibition Hall of Shuijiaoshe Cultural Park, open Wednesday to Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free and no reservation is required.

The Taikang Cultural Center is now presenting the exhibition "Art's First Intention · A Journey Through Beauty," showcasing the inner journey of her many years of depicting the beauty of the world with her brush. (Photo by reporter Lin Hsueh-chuan)

Reported by Lin Hsueh-chuan in Tainan

Shen Ching-jung, CEO of the FLOMO Educational Foundation, loves to pick up her brush and paint in her leisure time. She is now presenting the exhibition "Art's First Intention · A Journey Through Beauty" at the Taikang Cultural Center—her first solo exhibition—showcasing the inner journey of her many years of depicting the beauty of the world with her brush.

Shen Ching-jung is the CEO of the FLOMO Educational Foundation. Devoted to public welfare for many years, she serves as both the Foundation's Chief Executive Officer and a Director, and though her days are busy with affairs, she has never forgotten her original devotion to creation. She has traveled the world many times, using watercolor and oil painting to record what she has seen and felt along her journeys, expressing her love of nature through delicate brushwork and portraying the tranquility and distant serenity of landscapes in soft tones. With "first intention" as its core, the exhibition presents works on the themes of flowers and landscapes, inviting the public to enter her field of vision and feel the sincere emotion of encountering the world along the way.

Since its establishment in 2004, the FLOMO Educational Foundation has continued to deepen its work in education and the promotion of arts and culture. Last year it collaborated with the Cultural Affairs Bureau on "The First Art Class for the Children of Taikang," bringing children closer to art and inspiring their creativity. Teachers and students from Kang Chiao Kindergarten were specially invited to the opening event, demonstrating the Foundation's ongoing efforts to root education and awaken art.

The Center stated that Shen Ching-jung gazes upon nature and records her journeys with her brush, turning life's moving moments into color and brushstroke. It invites all to view the exhibition and, amid the interplay of light and art, to rediscover the purest beauty of life. The exhibition runs through October 19.